JEM Watercraft

one other thing worth mentioning: your desire for an open floor area free of cross bracing will be difficult to achieve. Not impossible but be prepared to except multi ribs under the sub floor and some running up the sides.

jem wrote:The DK 15 does have a good amount of rocker aft.

What kind of proportions for the sheer height are you looking for? Like a canoe or a power boat?

Sheer would be more like a power boat. the issue with canoes out on the flats is wind. They get pushed around too much. I'd go with a sheer line as low as safely possible.

jem wrote:one other thing worth mentioning: your desire for an open floor area free of cross bracing will be difficult to achieve. Not impossible but be prepared to except multi ribs under the sub floor and some running up the sides.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I had another idea sketched out but it's...a goofy idea. So I didn't post it. The logic that I was following was that I wanted a very low freeboard. Due to that I though I would also need to add a sole so that I could increase the amount of floatation by filling the sole. Then it dawned on me that if this craft should be framed like a scooter yet hull foil more like a skiff, I could put a full spray rail around it to deflect waves and water. That way I would have the benifit of a low freeboard, the safety of a SOT with the filled sole, and the ability to deflect some waves with the rail.

Another way to think of this:Start with your Paddleboard design, increase it to ~17'x48", beef up it's structure with an internal space frame, add rails ( side panels for the sheer), and build up a transom that can handle a small outboard. I'm sure this has come up before, nothing is new! lol

Man, lot's of chatter on other sites about this very same topic. Builders looking for a 16 to 18 foot technical poling skiff OTHER than the FS18...